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SPEECH OF HON. ER1STUS BROOKS, 



IN THE 



Senate, Feb. 7th, 8th, and 13th, 1855, 

The Lemmon Slave Case and Slavery — Secret Societies and Oaths — Grounds 
of Opposition to Mr. Seward — The Common Schools of New York — The 
Bible in our Schools — The Pure Franchises — A Better System of Naturali- 
zation — American Ambassadors Abroad — American Rulers at Home. 



Wednesday, February 7. 1855. 
Mr. President: — The interest of the occasion 
has passed. The election of Wm. H. Seward has 
been consummated, and in the common phrase 
of the day, I suppose we are to congratulate our- 
selves that "the country is safe !" The electric 
wires have borne the news from Albany to tho 
National Capitol and the roar of cannon has 
proclaimed the result throughout the State. I 
would not, if I could, mar f he joy of those whoso 
hearts have been made glad by the occurrence of 
yesterday. So far as that act has been consum- 
mated in the exercise of a generous friendship I 
can esteem the sentiment. So far as men are 
sincere in the avowed conviction that no other 
man is so fit to represent the State, I can appre- 
ciate the feeling which prompts such a discharge 
of duty, however much I may fail to respect the 
conviction which prompts such conduct. But so 
far as men have consented to become the pas- 
sive instruments of any body, and to sacrifice 
their own self-respect, and duty to their consti- 
tuents, they are unworthy of any mau's confi- 
dence or respect. So far also, as the seductions 
of flattery and the threats of power have contri- 
buted to the end achieved, they who have acted 
from such considerations carry the deepest pun- 
ishment in their own bosoms. If such men can 
be happy, let them rejoice. It seemed to mo 
amidst the riot and revelry of the night past over 
this election, that there was something like a bit- 
ter sarcasm in the music employed to congratu- 
late some of those chiefly instrumental in this re- 
sult. If music and wine, cheers and the roar 
of artillery, can satisfy those who turn their backs 
to their constituents, or if such midnight revelry 
can stifle the consciences of men, let them be hap- 

It was my wish that the public judgment could 
have met this question in regard to Mr. Seward's 
election upon its naked merits. I endeavored to 
persuade those in power here to allow the peo- 
ple to pass their verdict upon the man, and failing 
in persuasion, I endeavored to provoke his friends 
in a spirit of defiance to allow the question to go 
over another year. They had neither nerve nor 
courage to submit the question to the people of 
New York. They trembled in remembrance of 
the popular verdict as it has been demonstrated 
among the farmers of Orleans, Ontario and Liv- 



ingston, since the election of the present Legisla- 
ture. They knew that this body was elected 
with but little reference to the U. S. Senatorial 
question, and that Governor, Lieutenant Govern- 
or, all the State Officers, all public questious and 
all private considerations, had been sacrificed to 
secure men favorable to Mr. Seward. They knew, 
too, that men here had been guilty of deep deceit 
and treachery, that they had proclaimed them- 
selves hostile to Mr. Seward before their election 
and during the canvass, and that they betrayed 
the confidence of those who supported them. 

The means resorted to, to secure the result 
which has made many so happy, are such as well 
may make many blush. A species of political 
magnetism had pervaded the atmosphere. Men 
have been tracked from door to door, and house 
to house, to give a vote which would not have 
been given, but for the use of such appliances. 
The political Goths and Vandals, have made a 
rush upon the Capitol. They have followed men 
to their chambers. They have feasted them, 
dined them, supped them, lodged them, coaxed 
them, and begged, and threatened until many 
gentlemen, who if they had been left to act upon 
their own private judgments or upon the will of 
their constitutes have acted in disregard of both. 
Never in all my life have I seen so humiliating a 
spectacle as the scenes acted in and around this 
Capitol within the past few days. Caucus dicta- 
tion has influenced some. Others who fled from 
the caucus, were drawn back to the nomination 
made in caucus. Every one sees, feels, and 
knows the pressure, and there are those so lost 
to all self respect, and independence that they 
have made confession of their weakness. Alas, 
that party tyrany and discipline should carry 
men so far. 

THE QUESTION BEFORE THE SENATE. 

I desire, now, to bring the Senate to the res- 
olutions under consideration. They propose to 
employ State Counsel upon the Lemmon case. — 
Will ary Senator tell me the precise condition of 
this suit, or why this resolution is here 1 I pause 
for a reply — I receive none. In my judgment, 
it is here in order to keep up the agitation upon 
the slave question. The Slaves are free and 
paid for. The judgment of the court which set 
them free, is the judgment of the State. The 



2 



?« 



% 



act was doue in accordance to law, and the act 
could not have been left undone after the repeal 
of the nine months' law of 1817, by the act of 
1841. The case is not pressed by the State of 
Virginia, and has bardly been heard from, ex- 
cept for political purposes, since 1852. Why 
then, I ask again is it here, and action urged 
upon it from day to day. I have sought infor- 
mation from the highest executive authority of 
the State, and from the highest judicial authori- 
ty of the State, and I can learn nothing in the 
way of the reason or necessity of passing upon 
such a resolution. The purpose then, which has 
brought the subject here, is a partizan and po- 
litical one, and the hope is to keep the com- 
munity perpetually inflamed upon Slavery is- 
sues. In the discussion of Private Bills, of 
Church Property Bills, and of this Resolve, we 
have heard but little else from the other side, 
except what Wm H. Seward has done for the 
North. He is the only true man Senators can 
find among all who have represented this State 
or the free States. Rulus King was placed be- 
side him, among those who have passed from 
the stage of action, but the Senator, naming Mr. 
King, forgot that when Mr. Webster proposed 
a recommendation in Congress, to get rid of the 
free blacks of the South — the same proposition 
for which Rufus King urged an appropriation of 
&80,000,0G0— it was opposed by Mr. Seward. — 
We have had, therefore, if all we hear is true, 
but one just man in the United States Senate, in 
the entire history of the State of New York. 

But let us see if the North has really been so 
destitute. Mr. Seward is specially commended 
for his opposition to the extension of Slavery. — 
This has been the general sentiment of the 
North, always. Mr. Webster, a score of times 
and in a score of places, opposed the extension of 
Slavery. His opposition may be found in his 
famous 7th of March speech, so eminently Na- 
tional and Constitutional, but yet strongly 
against the extension of Slavery. That speech 
covers the views uttered by Mr. Webster at 
Niblo's Garden in 1837, where he said "that Sla- 
very was a great moral, social and political evil, 
and where, on account of Slavery, he opposed 
the annexation of Texas." Ten years later, at 
Springfield, Mass , he said " We aro to use the 
first, the last and every occasion which offers to 
oppose the extension of the Slave power." Simi- 
lar sentiments were uttered during Mr. Webster's 
last tour through New York and ?11 the way 
from Lake Erie to the Hudson. His speeches, 
whenever he addressed the Senate or public 
bodies upon the subject, have been in favor of 
freedom. I acknowledge Mr. Webster to be my 
teacher upon this subject, and especially in all 
his Constitutional views upon it. His views aro 
mine. I would give all the guarantees which 
the Constitution gives, and no more and no less. 
The Senator from the 26th (Mr. Dickinson), de- 
sires some one to rise here and declare " Slavery 
a National Institution !" He would like, he 
says, to present such a Senator to Mr. Barnum, 
and make a public exhibition of him as a living 
curiosity ! Trme certainly could be but one 
greater curiosity than this, to be placed at the 
•service of Mr. Barnum, and that would be the 



?>A 



honorable Senator himself, who, rising in his 
place, calls upon his associates to defend so ab- 
surd a proposition. Who, any where, at any 
time, in the Carolinas, in Georgia, Alabama, 
Texas, or elsewhere between the Delaware and 
Rio Grande, has called Slavery a National In- 
stitution ! No Southern or Northern man, has 
ever given utterance to a i roposition so ridicu- 
lous, and yet it has an utteranco here, and is an- 
swered here, as if somebody defended such an 
absurdity as a great political truth. No sir, 
Slavery is a State question and a local question. 
It has always been treated so in the United 
States, in Ei gland, in France, by jcrists at 
home, by the standard writers on International 
law, as abundant authorities before me show. — 
The words Slave and of \ roperty in Slaves, were 
omitted in the Constitu'ion by design, and on 
appeal from one of the most distinguished of the 
Virginia delegates (Mr. Madison), in order to 
avoid the angry discussions which Senators love 
to create, and I fear for no good purpose. Why 
sir, what greater regard have these men for the 
welfare of the negroes than the rest of us 1 Why 
do they argue against Slavery here in New 
York, where there are no Slaves, and upon a 
proposition which nobody opposes 1 They put 
up a man of straw and beat him with wind, in 
order to agitate and agitate this subject of Sla- 
very, and if possible, more and more to irritate 
the North against the South and the South 
against the North. 

Mr. President : — If I entertained towards the 
South, sentiments which have had utterance in 
the two branches of this Legislature, I would not 
live in a country where there was Slavery or a 
South. I would exile myself from my native 
land forever. I would seek some spot like Rob- 
inson Crusoe's Island, or the rock of St. Helena, 
some solitary spot of earth in mid-ocean, or 
some mountain top, and there, brooding over 
the country I had left, and in which I could not 
live, I would sigh myself away. The golden 
grains of a Southern harvest, its sheaves of 
wheat, rich in the fruits of the earth, would pre- 
sent themselves to me only in th-j sombre 
hues of Slavery. The tobacco of Virginia, North 
Carolina and Kentucky, should never pass my 
lips nor cross my threshold. The rice fields of 
South Carolina and Georgia, would bring to me 
a malaria worse then the certain death of those, 
who, unacclimed, fall asleep and die upon a rice 
plantation. The sugar of Louisiana, Texas and 
Florida, would be to me, as acid as vinegar, and 
as bitter as gall and wormwood. I would go to 
bed sheetless and shirtless, before I would lie 
between, or wear apparel or covering made 
from cotton which grew on a Southern planta- 
tion. The South should be to me, not the land 
of the rice and cane, of the fig and orange, but of 
the upas tree, aud with nothing but deep Cim- 
merian darkness above and below. If I could 
entertain in my own heart, even for a moment, 
the thoughts which have utterance here, I would 
have, if not a country of my own, at least a flag 
of my own, and there should be no star upon its 
ground-work to represent the States of Washing- 
ton, Marion, Oglethorpe or Jackson. It amazes 
me, that gentlemen in whose breastB must flow 



kindly sympathises, can entertain sentiments so 
hostile tow .rds brethern of their own country, 
and in a spirit of charity towards these general 
accusers, I desire to believe they do not, mean 
•what they say. I have rarely seen a pro-Sla- 
very man of any party at the North, and I have 
met with many Ami-Slavery men at the South. 
You have retarded the Ami Slavery sentiment 
South. The repeal of the Missouri Compromise, 
I confess, to have felt as a deep wound upon 
the country aud the whole country, not because 
of its effect upon Slavery, for I do not believe it 
will have any eftect favorable to that insti.ution, 
but because it was, in my judgment, an act of 
bad faith. 

SLAVERY AND KNOW NOTHINGISM. 

Now, sir, to touch upon another subject, what 
resemblance or alliance, can there be to warrant 
the declaration of the Senator from the 27th 
(Mr Bishop) that there is an alliance between 
Slavery and "Know Nothingism," as it is called. 
The most ultra Administration presses of the 
South, the Richmond Enquirer and Washington 
Union, for example, are united with the extreme 
presses of the JNorth in denouncing the great 
American movement of the day. Aud whyl — 
They fear that this country may become har- 
monised, united, and one in feeling as it is one ge- 
ographically and under the Constitution. Cease 
to agitate for Southern Slavery at the South and 
against Southern Slavery at the North and their 
vocation is gone. 

The Senators from the 26th aud 27th, delight to 
picture forth the horrors ot '•Know-Nothingism," 
secresy and Slavery. Vitality is given to a Vir- 
ginia law, which is a dead letter, and repealed I 
believe, because unconstitutional. Let me tell 
both of these Senators that the election of Mr. 
Seward eives more joy to the friends of the Ad- 
ministration in Virginia, to-day, than any other 
event which has transpired within a twelve- 
month. And why 1 Not because Mr. Seward is 
loved there, but because his uame is used by po- 
liticians as a bugbear to frighten men from their 
propriety, and because Mr. Seward being elected 
here, the hope is that that event may help to se- 
cure the vote of Virginia for Mr. Wise in the 
month of April. 

We are told, too, and most exultingly here, 
that there is no Whig party South ! No sir, uot 
even such men as John Bell and Mr. Cullom of 
Tenessee, Col. Hunt of Louisiana, and a score of 
as true men as ever breathed the breath of life, 
and who stood by the Missouri Compromise to 
the bitter end, are Whigs in our estimation. — 
They are loyal to the Government, National in 
sentiment, just to the North, and yet not Whigs 
I because not Abolitionists. Noboby is deemed a 
! Whig, nowadays, whose song is not heard in 
the paraphrase of 

SlavtryXhe woods, 
Slavery the floods. 
Slavery the aollow mountains ring. 

SECRET SOCIETIES AND OATHS. 

Mr. President: — I come now to speak of other 
matters which have been made prominent during 
i this discussion. 

Gentlemen profess to be alarmed at the ex- 



istence of secret societies, and particularly at 
what are called these " Know-Nothing Associ- 
ations." Well, sir, if what we hear be true, 
what secrets have they which have not been 
promulgated to the four winds of heaven. Is 
there any thing hidden which has uot been re- 
vealed 1 The principles are as well developed 
as the light of the sun. Every bod> knows them, 
and if need be, every body may know their de- 
fenders. And who have been among the chief 
assailants of these organizations'? The very men 
who entered them, who deliberately and 
voluntarily took upon themselves the obliga- 
tions of secrecy and of honor, who received their 
places in this very Legislature as members of 
these orders, who received support and confi- 
dence by meau.s of their pledges, who claimed 
support on the very ground oC these pledges, are 
the first to break their vows. They betray their 
constituents without a blush, break their bonds 
wittingly' and purposely, and thus commit the 
double offence of ingratitude and dishonor. The 
man, in my judgment, who would violate a 
pledge thus taken, and held for a long time 
with profit 'o himself, would not hesitate to break 
bis oath to support the Constitution. But whence 
this new born zeal in regard to secret societies'? 
It comes from men who have nothing to say 
adverse to systems of political caucusing, who 
belons: to central, c junty, town, ward, and execu- 
tive political committees, all of whose proceed- 
ings are in secret.and all of whose action is purely 
political. One may be a free and accepted Ma- 
son, an Odd Fellow, belong to the Order of 
United Americans, or Irishmen, or one of the 
Scotch, Irish, German, French, or other of the 
secret foreign societies of the country, Orange- 
men or Riubonmen, Jacobin or Jesuit, and it is 
all well. But for native Americans to resist any 
of the combinations against their country, or to 
unite upon common measures for the defence of 
their countrymen, or to seek to reform abuses 
in the franchise, or to purify the ballot-box, or 
to inculcate a pure Protestant faith, is looked 
upon as treasonable. We forget that we, our- 
selves, are ail members of a secret political so- 
ciety, and that on every Wednesday, when the 
sun is at meridian, as on this day, we exclude 
the public from our doors, and among ourselves, 
discuss the characters of men, and receive or 
banish them from the public service at our own 
good will and pleasure. Their reputation for 
life, may depend upon our action here. The 
Senate of the United States exercises the same 
power and in the same way, and the additional 
power of acting with the President of the United 
States in regard to all treaties among the Indian 
tribes and with foreign nations. The whole in- 
terior exercise of power, with all the State Gov- 
ernments and in the Federal Government, is 
nearly a sealed book to the public. Every ad- 
ministration from the days of Washington has 
had voted to it a secret servici fund, which is 
generally used exclusively by the President of 
the United States, aud employed upon secret 
missions abroad or at home. But Ameri- 
cans may not belong to a secret organization for 
the protection of their country. Why, sir, 
George Washington thought it no dishonor to 



belong to such an organization, and his oath, 
■written in the word of God, is sacredly preserved 
in England to-day, as among the most precious 
memorials of the survivors of the secret order of 
which he was a member. Yes sir, and he kept 
his oath of secrecy. When the 28th regiment of 
the mother country was in the United States, a 
regiment at one time commanded by the gallant 
Wolfe, at the siege of Quebec, George Washing- 
ton held some small command in it. There was 
a secret order in the regiment, and Washington 
was one of that order. The war of the revolu- 
tion separated him from his companions, but 
not from his oath. He found himself opposed 
to the very troops with whom he had formerly 
served. The British were defeated, and the 
emblems of the lodge were taken in a chest 
among the trophies of the battle. The biblo 
was there on which he had sworn lis masonic 
oath, and chest, emblems, bible, and all, wero 
promptly returned by him to the foe, with all 
the honors of war. The chest was a second 
time captured by him, and a second time re- 
turned in the same handsome and delicate man- 
ner. Washington kept his oath, and "the lodge of 
virtue" loved him for it as a friend and brother, 
and they revere his memory as tenderly to-day, 
as their predecessors honored it when Washing- 
ton was alive. But Senators here are alarmed 
upon the subject of oaths. Let them be as- 
sured that no true American would ever take 
any political oath, except to serve his country 
with fidelity. Let them rather be alarmed for 
those whose obligations, like a certain class of 
marriage vows, have " proved as false as dicers' 
oaths." The Constitution makes provisions for 
the punishment of treason against the State and 
for the .manner of conducting the trial. But 
there is no written law for the punishment of 
moral treason. Yet in the sight of God and 
man, the offence is the same. It seems to me, 
sir, that the man who would voluntarily take an 
obligation, knowing what it was, receiving 
marked and positive benefits from it, elevated 
perchance, to high official position by his very 
association in, and support from such an organiza- 
tion, nominated by it for public office, elected by 
it to public office, receiving still higher benefits 
when in public office, by silence, acquiesence or 
positive assurance that he was true to his origin- 
al faith, and would be true to those who had re- 
posed confidence in him as a man, as a friend 
and a brother, and who would then break all 
these solemn vows from fear or favor, or other- 
wise, has reached the highest degradation and 
the lowest disgrace. He is ready to commit the 
unpardonable sin of ingratitude, and among all 
honorable men, there can be no greater offence 
than this. 

There is no danger, Mr. President, that the 
measures of any secret political organization ia 
this country, will not be known, and the de- 
bates of the present session abundantly testify 
to the truth of this. Still less is there any dan- 
ger that Americans will prove unfaithful to 
America. They will never take an oath of en- 
mity to their country or in violation of the Con- 
stitution of the State they serve, or the Govern- 
ment of which they are citizens. They will nev- 



er do injustice to men of any faith or country. — 
I imagine, sir, that those who make and give 
pledges in these organizations are without 
coercion, and just as free to retrace their steps, 
a« they were to take them. I suppose the door out 
is as plain as the door in, but they cannot enter 
to betray, and if they remain they must be true 
to those to whom they are bound, and if they 
leave they cannot, as honorable men, betray 
those whom they leave behind, and whose se- 
crets they have secured. 

GROUNDS OP OPPOSITION TO MR. SEWARD. 

Mr. President : — My opposition to Mr. Sew- 
ard arises, not mainly or materially from his ex- 
treme Anti-Slavery opinions, nor alone from the 
dangerous doctrines to the civil law and Consti- 
tution which have been the fruits of his higher 
law sentiment as uttered in Ohiband in the Unit- 
ed States Senate. There are other and older 
offences, some of them personal towards public 
men and private citizens, and some of them of- 
ficial and beating upon the great public ques- 
tions of the country. Towards Mr. Seward per- 
sonally, I have no feelings of animosity. I ad- 
mire his abilities. I have been instructed by his 
labors, and I wish him in all good works all hon- 
or and all prosperity. I war against many of his 
opinions and I remember with regret and con- 
demnation many of his public services and pri- 
vate acts as the Governor of this State. Sena- 
tors here would censure almost any other public 
man holding the precise views of Mr. Seward 
upon the Slave question. They have declared 
for the abridgment of Slave territory without 
qualification. They have indulged in unsparing 
censure towards all those entertaining any opin- 
ion short of this. They would be horrified if I 
were to tell them in my place here to-day, as I 
shall, that Mr. Seward declared his readiness, 
under certain contingencies, to admit even Cal- 
fornia as a Slave Slate, California without Slaves 
under the Mexican law, and free territory by the 
local law ; but it is true nevertheless. I read 
from Mr. Seward's revised speech delivered in 
the Senate of the United States on the 9th of 
March, 1850, and headed "California, Union and 
Liberty." On the 4th page, 2d column, of this 
speech I read : — 

Mr. Seward— * * * California ought to come in, be- 
ing a f.ee Slate ; and under the circumstances of her con- 
quest, her compact, her abandonment, her justifiable and 
necessary establishment of a Constitution, and tne inevit- 
able dismemberment of the empire, consequent upon her 
rejection, 1 should have voted for her admission, even if she 
had come as a Slave State. 

Mr. Foote, of Miss. — Will the honorable Senator allow 
me to ask him if the Senate is to understand him as saying 
that he would vote for the admission of California, if she 
came here seakink admission as a Slave State. 

Mr. Seward — I ieply as I said before, that eveD if Cali- 
fornia had come asa Slave State, yet coming under the ex- 
traordinary circumstances I have described, and in view of 
the consequences of a dismemberment of the empire con- 
sequent upon her rejection I should have voted for her 
admission, even thoush sh ■ had come as a Slave State. — 
Jiut I would not have voted.for her admission otherwise." 

Here then, , Mr. Seward is upon the record, in a 
certain contingency, for the admission of a Slave 
State and for the extension of Slavery. What 
does the Senator from the 27th think of that 1 

Mr. Bishop — Mr. Seward meant if the people 
came with a Constitution having Slavery. 

Mr. Brooks — Precisely so. Now I am not con- 
demning Mr. Seward's course in this matter and 






5 



upon this subject, but the inconsistency of his 
advocates here. They would not support any 
man, or repose confidence in any man, who, un- 
der any contingency, would consent to vote for 
the admission of a Slave State. But behold how 
re;ulv (hey are to excuse their Northern Idol 
now, when out of their own mouths he condemns 
their own faith ! 

The same admission is distinctly made again 
and again, on the 7th page of the same speech. 
"When the States are once formed," he say3, 
"they have a right to come in as Free or Slave 
States, according to their own choice." And 
again in reply to Mr. Foote, he remarks, "I said 
/ would have voted for the admission of California, 
even as a Slave Stale, tyc." Again, on the 9th 
page, last paragraph, he says, very inconsistent- 
ly it appears to me,, considering what has gone 
before, "Congress may admit new States ; and, 
since Congress may admit, it follows that Con- 
gress may reject new Stales." That is, Congress 
may reject a State, but not for Slavery ! 

Now sir, I commend Governor Seward's doc* 
trine on this point, to some of his over zealous 
supporters in this Chamber. I commend his 
moderation, also, as set forth in a letter written 
to James Watson Webb, six years ago, when Mr. 
Seward was before the Legislature for his first 
election to the United States Senate. There, he 
pledged himself to Col. Webb, and through him 
to the Legislature, that he would not enter upon 
a useless agitation of the subject of Slavery. — 
He says, and I especially commend what he says 
to the Senator from the 26th: 

"The Union of these States is indispensable, in 
my judgment, to the accomplishment of any 
good, even in regard to the institution of Slave- 
ry, * * * I am m f a vor, as I think ev- 
ery Whig is, of circumscribing Slavery within its 
present bounds. * * * I shall labor by 
free and kind and peaceful discussion to form 
public opinion and direct it to a Constitutional, 
careful, and peaceful removal of it. But that 
removal must be through the agency of those 
only to whom its responsibilities belong, and the 
Constitutional barriers which protect the Slave 
States, in the exclusive right to discharge those 
responsibilities will be as sacred in my regard 
as those which protect the Free States in their 
rights." 

This, sir, was a letter written to secure the 
votes of National Whigs, but I commend its tone 
and spirit to the peculiar disciples of the author. 
Sir, my opposition tc Mr. Seward has been ar- 
dent and consistent for fourteen years, and I have 
found many reasons, 1 am sorry to say of 
a public character, for persevering in it without 
abatement to the end. I have regarded him as 
a man of large influence and as one who has not 
hesitated to use it in disseminating very low 
principles of political morality. I have thought 
that he took pleasure in arraying class against 
class and in the inculcation of opinions of a rad- 
ical aud dangerous character. Whatever his ul- 
timate views or ends, he has not hesitated to 
level downward and to burrow low in order to 
upheave the slumbering masses and to excite 
their deepest passioDS. He has had no high 
mark and standard for men to point to as the 



pole star of truth and duty, but with artful 
words, and I fear with no elevated ideas of what 
a public man eight to do in the way of example, 
he has addressed himself to classes and castes. — 
He has not hesitated to put shame upon his own 
countrymen, aud honor to those of foreign birth, 
and to believe and promulgate calumnies against 
Americans, in order to show his partiality for 
Irishmen. I refer to his Auburn k-tter, dated 
June 28th, 1844, and addressed to John Kilcher, 
Dennis Halpin, and P. McQuade, wherein he 
charges "Native American citizens" with having 
fired dwellings, Libraries, Hospitals, Churches oc- 
cupied by a community of Irishmen, and Irish- 
women, and Irish children, and in the night time 
and with sword and bayonet in hand! It was a 
libel upon his countrymen, and such an one as 
ought to crimson the cheek of every man who 
supports him within the sound of my voice, and 
hear how easy he can extenuate the wrongs 
of Irishmen, while so ready to send sporting 
upon the wings of the wind, these cruel assults 
upon " Native American citizens. " They 
"tell me," he says, "that in Philadelphia some 
"Irishmen fired on a meeting assembled for po- 
litical discussion. It may be so, but I suspend 
"my judgment ; it is the strong who accuse the 
"weak. If however, Irishmen did so invade the 
"rights of citizens they committed a crime against 
"Liberty and law, which not even their just com- 
"plaints against Native Americans intolerance and. 
"proscription can in the least degree palliate or 
"excuse." 

Then follows a renewed assault of harsh epi- 
thets upon Native Americans, in the full and 
willing belief that all that has been said against 
them is true, and finally those "young friends of 
Ireland," as they are addressed are told: — 

"Whoever else fails you, be assured that I am 
firm, and true, and faithful. Hold on still to the 
truthes asserted in the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, that all men are born free and equal, and 
to the consequent truth that all men have an in- 
alienable right to free suffrage, as a condition of 
submission to authority. 

* * * "The ruins of St. Augustine will 
prove the grave of intolerance in America. The 
blackened walls which remain bear an appropri- 
ate epitaph: "The Lord seeth." The voice of 
O'Connell will gather tones, and the velocity of 
electricity coming through the gates of Newgate. 
We shall yet see the Liberator of Ireland upon 
the wool sack in College Green," &c. 

His letter to St. Patrick's Society in this city 
in 1844, declaring all to be equal in natural 
rights — and declaring that any where, in church 
and in state and in the political arena, in favor 
and in reproach he was the friend of Ireland, 
was of the same anti- American character. 

With such sentiments from such a source, no 
one need wonder at the remark made in this 
Chamber that Americans alone are the authors 
of all the mobs in the United States. Prophecy 
and appeal seem, however, in this case of no avail; 
but what a voluntary record of shame to Ameri- 
cans to win favor from Irishmen. No wonder 
that the author of such a letter could cry shame 
to Ireland for erecting a monument to William 
Prince of Orange. Let me quote once more from 



his public speeches, wherein he volunteers to 
assail the American movement and to speak as 
he did ten years before, for Ireland against 
America. lie says : — 

" Emboldened by popular forbearance the 
spirit of proscription lias approached Congress 
with a demand for the full disfranchisement in 
America, of all men not born on Hie American 
Soil. I say disfranchisment, for 21 years re?i- 
den -e, which is now insisted on as a condition of 
naturalization, would be virtual disfranchisement. 
Exiles of Ireland for freedom and for coucience 
sake you are justly alarmed and grieved by such 
wrongs in the land to which you were invited as 
an Asylum." 

I wish now to give another reason for my op- 
position to Mr, Seward. I do not think he was 
a true friend to Henry Clay, or that he gave him 
an honest, hearty and generous support when 
before the people in 1844, as the Whig candi- 
date for President of the United States. It was 
a support of a cold, heartless and indilferent 
kind on his part, and that coldness and indif- 
ference was participated in by many of Mr. Sew- 
ard's friends in New York, and was among the 
chief causes which lost him the vote of this 
Slate, and the majority of the electorial votes of 
the country. I repeat, sir, in answer to the in- 
quiry of the Senator from tho 26.h, that Mr. 
Seward was no true friend of Mr. Clay, and that 
nobody understood this better than Mr. Clay 
himself, for with many others, who could be 
named, in his life time, he spoke freely to me of 
Mr. Seward's policy and of his dislike to the 
man. 

Nor can I forg't Mr. Seward's conduct as 
Governor of New York, to Hiram Ket'dium, one 
of my constituents, and my friend, a gentleman 
of intelligence and honor, and respected by all 
who know him. He had been a Whig from the 
start. He had served his party with all the 
fidelity of a loyal partisan. Ho had also been a 
faithful member of the Public School Society of 
New York. He had, for many years, served 
that great interest with marked ability and 
great discretion. His fello.w citizens had the 
utmost confidence in his integrity and capacity, 
and some few of them petitioned Gov. Seward to 
nominate Hiram Kctchum to the office, then 
much more lucrative than at present, of Circuit 
Judge. »Mr. Ketchum was told by Gov. Sew- 
ard, in person, in the executive chamber, un- 
solicited and unasked, that there was his ap- 
pointment, pointing to a sealed package, and 
that it would be sent to the Senate. Well, sir, 
it was sent to the Senate. In the meantime, 
Mr. Ketchum, who was always too much of a 
man to be a wily politician, came to Albany to 
oppose the attempted innovations upon the 
schools of New York. He was heard before a 
select committee of the Senate. He spoke in 
opposition to the report, and bill prepared by 
the then Secretary of State, and that bill, mainly 
under Mr. Ketchcm's influence, was defeated 
here in the Senate. For this act, executed in 
accordance with public sentiment in the city 
and State, for this free speech from a Trustee of 
one of the Public Schools for twenty five years, 
for this attempt to prevent a division of the 



School Funds, and the destruction of all that 
was mainly useful and beneficial in our Common 
School system, Mr. Ketchum was struck down 
by Gov. Seward ! His nomination was withdrawn, 
from the Senate by Gov. Suward in obedience to 
the demand of the Romish Hierarchy, and no 
reason was ever given him or his friends for tho 
act. If it was done under. this instigation of 
Roman Catholic influence, as I believe, or for 
party purposes, it was a most unmanly and un- 
generous act. It was punishing a man for doing 
that, for all the children of New York, and all 
the parents of New York, which Bishop Hughes 
was doing or desired to bo done for the Catho- 
lics alons. It was striking at a Protestant for 
his American opinions, and gratifying and re- 
warding a Catholic for sectarian opinions. From 
that day and that act, opposition to Gov. Sew- 
ard, has grown with my growth and strengthened 
with my strength, 

But the end is not yet. The whole political 
element of the Seward party proper and of its 
leader, has been one of political depression and 
corruption. It has had a central power here, at 
tho seat of Government as bad, and as potent 
for evil, as that of the old Albany Regency. It 
has pensioned presses supported by the Legisla- 
ture, and pensioned partizans paid in public of- 
fice, and the latter have swarmed here like lo- 
custs pendiug the discussion of this Senatorial 
question. The work of corruption commenced 
years ago, when Gov. Sevrard attempted to de- 
feat, and as I have understood, actually drew 
up a veto message to the Registry Law, a law 
which he opposed vehemently, and because it 
bore hard upon foreigners who were not willing, 
even to show themselves to be naturalized citi- 
zens und°r the liberal law of a five years' resi- 
dence in the United States. That law aimed at 
an honest franchise and a pure ballot-box, and 
without a Registry Law, we could not havo 
either in New York. 

These are my reasons, in part, for opposing 
Gov. Seward ; but I hav^ a still longer and more 
important record against him. I might allude 
to the double part acted by his confidential 
friends towards Gen. Taylor, when the latter was 
a candidate for the Presidency. I might allude 
to a public meeting called in the city of Albany, 
in the summer of 1848 for that vt ry purpose. 

Mr. Dickinson. It was a meeting of Silver 
Grays. 

Mr. Brooks. No sir. 

Mr. Dickinson. Yes sir. John A. Collier was 
the man. 

Mr. Brooks. The Senator has lost his reck- 
oning. He is in error, as I can show, and just 
as unjust to " the Silver Grays," as he was when 
yesterday he called Mr. Ullmaun " a pirate" and 
" a hypocrite." Suoh epithets sounded most 
harshly upon my ears. Mr. Ullmann received 
the votes of more than 122,000 of the freemen of 
New York, for the highest office in the gift of 
the people of the State. Such epithets applied 
to him. are a reflection aud assault upon their 
good sense And honesty. But I suppose tho 
Senator spoke in a Pickwickian sense, for he 
told us afterwards that Mr. Ullmann might be a 
gentleman in private life. " A pirnte and 



hypocrite," and 3*et a gentleman ! It is written 
by somebody, that " the Prince of Darkness is a 
gentleman," ami I suppose the Senator only 
meant that Mr. Ulltnann was a devil. 

But to go on with my record in regard to 
Gov. Seward ; let me quote the following from 
his published works : — 

SCHOOLS FOR THE CHILDREN OF FOREIGNERS. 

"The children of foreigners, found in great 
numbers in our populous cities, and towns, and 
in the vicinity of our public works, are too of- 
ten deprived of our system of public education 
in consequence of prejudices arising from dif- 
ference of language or religion. It ought never 
to be forgotten that the public welfare is as 
deeply concerned in their education, as in that 
of our own children. I do not hesitate, there- 
fore, to recommend the establishment of schools iu 
which they may be instructed by teachers, speaking 
the same language with themselves and professing 
ti>-u same faith" 

OPINIONS UNCHANGED. 

"Whatever may have been thougLt hereto- 
fore, I can afford now, at least, to be frank and 
honest. I re-affirm all I have before promulga- 
ted concerning the policy of this country, in re- 
gard to foreigners, and the education of their 
children. Moreover, I invite all who may take 
the trouble to look through the records of my 
public action and to institute an inquiry into my 
private correspondence and conversation, and if 
a word or thought inconsistent with the public 
opinions I have expressed, shall bo produced, I 
shall cheerfully acknowledge the justice of thoso 
who temporally delay the accomplishment of the 
great public measures I advocate, by question- 
ing the sincerity with which they have been 
recommended." 

THjC right of suffrage to all who ask it. 

" I am of opinion that it would be wise to re- 
move this and other obstructions to naturaliza- 
tion and believe it would be better for the per- 
manent interest of the country to confer the 
right of suffrage upon ail who ask it, and who 
have not rendered themselves unworth of it, by 
crime, after a period of residence less than that 
prescribed by the naturalization laws." 

Upon these topics, but mainly upon the Com- 
mon School System of New York, I propose to 
address the Senate briefly to-morrow. 



Thursday, February 8th. 

The special order having been announced at 
12 o'clock, 

Mr. Brooks said : When I was upon the floor 
yesterday, Mr. President, in the course of some 
general remarks upon State politics, I alluded to 
the conduct of certain leading politicians in this 
city, so called Whigs, who endeavored to defeat 
General Taylor, after his nomination at a public 
meeting in this city. My motive was to contrast 
that act of hostility towards the Whig Candidate 
for the Presidency, with the flattery and fawning 
which followed the President in person after he 
was inaugurated and clothed with high executive 
power and patronage, and I should be glad to 



picture some of the scenes iu this Senate which 
transpired at Washington during the brief, but 
eventful months of General Taylor's public ser- 
vice. Suffice it, for the present, that I offer proof 
here as to the truth of all I did assert. I said 
thai a public meeting was caked in this city by 
that class of Whigs known as Mr. Seward's pecu- 
liar friends, and that it was called by them from a 
feeling of hostility to General Taylor. The Sen- 
ator from the 26th said " No;" I said " Yes," and 
there the question was left for the night. Now, 
Sir, in the Evening Journal of August 28th, 1848, 
there is the correspondence of Wm. Bull Pringle, 
President of a South CarolinaConvention tender- 
ing General Taylor a Domination, and General 
Taylor's acceptance of the same. The comments 
of the editor of the Journal will be found with 
the correspondence. 

In the same number of the Journal this also 
appears : 

"It is due to Mr. Fillmore to say that the 
meeting on Saturday evening, (over which Judge 
Parmelee presided,) was called without his ad- 
vice or approval. * * * And finally, to pre- 
vent misapprehension, it should be known that 
u-e alone are responsible for the meeting of Sat- 
urday evening." 

The Tuesday following, August 29th, 1848, an 
adjourned meeting was had at the Hail of the 
Capitol, Judge Parmelee, the present Mayor, 
presiding. Mr.Collier chairm \n of the committee 
on Resolutions addressed the meeting for half 
an hour deprecating hasty action, and stated he 
could not hesitate between General Taylor and 
General Cass, who was a Loco Foco of the worst 
caste, and Martin Van Bur en " 

Sir, This is the record, and it answers the re- 
mark of one of Mr. Seward's friends hero that 
Silver Grays had any thing to do with getting up 
this Albany meeting to defeat General Taylor's 
election. 

But, Sir, the end is not yet. This Anti-Taylor 
Meeting originated in the Journal office of this 
city. One of its Editors was busy in circulating 
the posters or circulars for such a meeting on 
the Saturday afternoon of the evening on which 
the meeting was held. The Editer-in-chief had 
prepared Resolutions opposed to General Taylor, 
and they were in more than ona man's hands 
during the evening. The meeting was attended 
by Mr. Collier and some other National Whigs in 
order to prevent the execution of the purpose 
for which it was called. In the mean time the 
originator of the meeting went to Troy, and was 
there upon the Sabbath, as I have been assured, 
begging the Whigs of Troy, one of them I think 
now in Congress, and one of them an ex-Speaker 
of the Assembly, to get up a meeting opposed 
to General Taylor! "it was the Silver Gray 
Whigs of this and of that city, who opposed this 
nefarious scheme to defeat General Taylor, and 
with him of course Mr. Fillmore. 

the common schools. 

Mr. President. — I come now as promised, to 
our Public Schools. The Common Schools of 
the United States are the glory of our land, and 
the chief corner stone of the Republic. The 
Pilgrim Fathers after they had formed their 



8 



Constitution on board the May Flower and made 
provisions for the inculcation of a pure Protes- 
tant faith on the basis of the Bible, made pro- 
vision for the establishment of Common Schools. 
They left, the old world where the Church and 
State were one, to secure both the freedom of 
religious worship, and the blessings of civil lib- 
erty. On the banks of the Kennebec, at Plym- 
outh, on the Connecticut, the Narraganset, all 
over New England, they made provision for a 
Common School in every town and for a Grammar 
School in every County In both the Old Col- 
onies of Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, the 
decree was that if a child over sixteen and under 
twenty one years committed a certain capital of. 
fencebe should beallowed toarrest judgment upon 
himself, by showing that his parents had neglect- 
ed his education. Even in Ireland, from which 
Country it has been said by some, the Red men 
first found their way to this Continent, the Courts 
made provision that when a child committed an 
otfence, judicial investigation should be had as to 
the fact whether it hart received ,-t proper edu- 
cation, and if not, the chi'd was set free and par- 
ents delivered up to punishment. 

I see before me the Pilgrim Band in old Mas- 
sachusetts, us they are pictured in the beautiful 
song of Mrs. Hemans. I see the breaking waves, 
the rock bound coast, the stormy sky and 
amidst the music of the roaring spray I hear 
their anthems of praise to Almighty God. 

" Amidst the st' rms they ^antr, 

And i he stars heard and the sea, 

And the sounding aisles ol the dim woods rang. 

To the an hems of thr free." 

The Bible was their oracle, the Church their 
shrine, and the School House their secular sanc- 
tuary. The face of Mature was bleak and for- 
bidding, but their hearts were warm, and devot- 
ed to religion and learning. In the full freedom 
to worship God they found compensation for all 
the hardships of winter and the solitude of exile. 

New York has copied much of her school sys- 
tem from New England, until to-day it is unsur- 
passed, and the brightest jewel in the crown 
which constitutes her civic glory. If for one 
thing more than another, she deserves to be 
called the Empire State, and to wear upon that 
escutcheon the proud word Excelsior, it is for 
her Free Schools. Her political history upon 
this sul ject has been almost a continued tributo 
of praise. Education was among the subjects 
considered by the first Legislature under the 
Constitution. George Clinton, one of our most 
honored public men, in the name of the Supreme 
Being, asked the Legislature to aid in the revi- 
val and encouragement of Seminaries of learning. 
In 1795, and sixty years ago next April, an act 
was pa^ed for the encouragement of Public 
Schools, and twenty thousand dollars was ten- 
dered annually as the first State offering for the 
education of the poor children of the State. — 
The laiv provided that they should be educated 
in whatever branches of useful knowledge 
were necessary to complete a good English edu- 
cation. Secular knowledge, as distinguished 
from sectai>an knowledge was the germ of our 
present bemficent system of education. In 1801 
the State resorted to Lotteries and four were 
established in the State, and in the name of lite- 



rature in the expectation that streams of knowl- 
edge would freely flow from this impure foun- 
tain. In the mean time Governors Clinton, and 
Lewis, and Tompkins, each in the name of Re- 
ligion, and Liberty, for the sake of good Govern- 
ment and good morals, and on behalf of the wel- 
fare of the rising generation entreated the 
Legislature to deliberate wisely and act prompt- 
ly for the free diffusion of knowledge all over 
the State. Fifty years ago next April the system 
found ft platform to stand upon and the founda- 
tion has been made broader and stronger from 
that day to the present. In 1805 the proceeds 
from the sales of half a million of acres of public 
land were devoted to school purposes, and around 
this nucleus has been gathered and added the 
proceeds of Lotteries, fees from courts, stocks of 
banks and various aggregations until the $20,- 
000 appropriated in 1795 have become a fund of 
several millions of dollars. In 1811 Governor 
Tompkins, acting upon the idea of Montesquieu 
that in a republic education must be national- 
ized, pressed the subject honje still more earnest- 
ly upon the Legislature, and then in the midst of 
the war, was passed the act appointing five com- 
missioners for the establishment of Common 
Schools. One year later their report was adopt- 
ed and New York commenced the improvement 
of a system which now seems to be almost per- 
fect. These commissioners urged the employ- 
ment of Teachers prepared for the inculcation 
of truth and virtue and gifted with all other qual- 
ifications which would enable them to act the 
part of good instructors. Upon the subject 
of books they suggested in language which has 
my hearty concurrence, that the reading of the 
Bible iu Schools might be salutary. "It, should 
be regarded," say they, "as a book intended for 
literary improvmentnot merely, but as inculcat- 
ing great and indispensable moral truths also." 
It was then the custom of the New York Free 
School iu my own city to have select chapters 
read at the opening of the School in the morn- 
ing and at the close of the School service in the 
afternoon - "This," say the Commissioners "is 
deemed the best mode of preserving the religious 
regard which is due to the sacred writings." 
May the day never come when in New York it 
shall be deemed unlawful to read the Bible iu 
our Pubic Schools. From 1812 to 1824 our 
School system went on improving. New York 
city was not only ready to meet the tax imposed 
for School purposes, but she even petitioned to 
have additional taxes imposed upon her citizens 
for the education of her poor, when permitted to 
dispose of her own School revenues. A diiect 
tax was laid for school purposes, and in 1814 a 
law passed compelling all the towns and coun- 
ties of the Stale to impose a tax upon themselves 
equal to the amount received from the School 
fund. New York, under the act of 1824 raised 
in 1838, $140,000 for the city Schools, $34,000 
of which was paid under the compulsory system 
she had voluntarily imposed upon herself for a 
good purpose. 

But the law of 1824 did not suit the Roman 
Catholic Bishop of New York, and it did not suit 
Mr Seward, and hence the difficulties which 
arose in 1840. Under the previous state of things 






9 



in the city as administered by the Public School 
Society, composed of the Clintons, the Bleeck- 
ers„ the Trimbles, the Rutgers, the Ketchums, the 
Grinnells, and some of the best men in the city, 
the funds had been appropriated to the African, 
Economical and Orphan Asylum Schools of the 
city, and to such of the incorporated religious 
societies in the city as should establish religious 
societies which schools shold receive in proportion 
to the number of scholars between the ages ofjl4 
and 17 years, and taught therein without charge. 
The Bethel Baptist church by a special act, pas- 
sed in 1817, received special benefits, aid there 
was under that act good cause for apprehending 
that the fund would be used for sectarian 
purposes. The law on this ground was repealed 
and the Catholics joined in the call for repeal, 
which was effected in 1823. The discussion in 
New York and Albany resulted in an act giving 
the disposal of the city School fund to the Com- 
mon Council of the city. The Common Council 
heard all sides, and very wisely, in my judg- 
ment voted in 1824 to exclude all religious cor- 
porations. 

Then came the struggle of 1840, when the Ro- 
man Catholic Bishop entered the arena to make 
open war upon our schools. He and his associ- 
ates first appeared before the Commou Council, 
and then at Albany. They were beaten in 
both places, and in this city especially, not- 
withstanding the exertion used by Governor 
Seward against the Public School society, and 
in behalf of Bishop Hughes Both the city and 
State authorities were appealed to, to destroy 
one ot the most beneficial systems of free and 
equal education that ever honored and exalted 
a public body. I propose to consider what these 
measures were; and begin with the following 
extracts from the memorials of the School socie- 
ty to the New York Legislature, which represen- 
ted the state of things which existed prior to 
1«40. 

CONDITION OP THE CITY SCHOOLS IN 1852. 

* * * « The Free Schools under our 
care are open to all religious denominations. — 
No distinction of sect or name is known in ad- 
mitting scholars. The government of the State, 
in a spirit of wisdom and munificence, has made 
a liberal annual allowance towarda sustaining 
the expenses of their education, and if our in- 
come exceeds the expenditures, the surplus is 
appropriated towards erecting buildings for 
Schools, which are the property of the public, 
for the perpetual reception of indigent children. 
Five houses have already been constructed, 
principally by the aid of private donations, in the 
different parts of the City of New York. They 
constitute a real estate which will be held in 
perpetuity for the benefit of the lower classes of 
the community, and what may be estimated at 
the value of sixty thousand dollars."' 

* * * "About three years ago, the Society 
for the prevention of Pauperism in the city of 
New York, made an Annual Report, in which it 
was stated, among other things, that there were 
about eight thousand pocr children in this Me- 
tropolis, who were growing up destitute of in- 
struction," 



* * * " Your memorialists deem it 
proper to state, that the Free School Society of 
New York, is composed of more than six hun- 
dred of the most respectable citizens, and that 
religious distinctions are unknown in their con- 
stitution. For seventeen years have they prose- 
cuted the grand design of their institution with 
ardor and succets. They have contracted debts 
and incurred heavy responsibilities on many oc- 
casions." 

We come now to the opposition to the School 
law. 

ROMAN CATHOLIC PRAYER TO THE NEW YORK COM- 
MON COUNCIL. 

* * * " Your petitioners, therefore, 
pray that your Honorable Body wjll be pleased 
to designate as among the Schools entitled 
to participate in the Common School Fund upon 
complying with the requirements of the law, 
and the ordinances of the corporation of the 
city, or for such other relief, as to your Honora- 
ble Body shall seem meet. St. Patrick's School 
St. Peter's Cchool, St. Mary's School, St. Jos- 
eph's School, St. James's School, St. Nicholas' 
School, Transfiguration Church School, and St. 
John's School." 

REMONSTRANCES TO THIS PRAYER PROM THE TRUS- 
TEES OP THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

* * * « With ths religious opinions oj 
the denomination of christians referred to, your 
remonstrants have nothing to do. • In opposing 
the claims of the Roman Catholic, and several 
other Churches, to the School money, they have 
confined their remarks to the broad general 
grounds, alike applicable to all." 

* * * "It will thus be seen, that the 
charge made in the petition of the Roman Cath- 
olics, that such of their children as have attend- 
ed the Public Schools are generally, and at 
an early age, imbued with a principle, which 
they impute to a portion of the Trustees, falls to 
the ground, and is proved to be unfounded, as it 
is illiberal and ungenerous." 

* * * "The subject of objectionable 
matter in the books used in the Public Schools, 
is so fully discussed in the papers, now submit- 
ted to your Honorable body, that little more 
would seem to be called for under this head. — 
Finding their strenuous and long continued ef- 
forts to induce the Catholic clergy to unite in an 
expurgation of the books unavailing, the Trus- 
tees commenced the work with them, aDd it is 
now nearly completed. If anything remains to 
which the petitioners can take exception, no cen- 
sure can, by possibility, attach to your remon- 
strances; and the Trustees assert with confidence, 
that if any has escaped them, there is new less 
matter objectionable to the Roman Catholics, to 
be found in the books usc»d in the Public Schools, 
than in those of any other Seminary of learning, 
either public or private, wiihin this State." 

Here was the petition, and open to the Common 
Council, and which resulted in the defeat of the 
petitioners. Then came the appeal to the Leg- 
islature in a Sectarian form, and in a petition 
which said: — 

"Your memorialists being members of the 



10 



Catholic Church, and connected with the several 
Catholic congregations in the city of New York, 
would respectfully represent to your Honorable 
body, &c." 

The complaints were the same as in the city, 
and resulted in the following 

PROPOSITION ON BEHALF OF THE SCHOOL SOCIETY. 

"In compliance with the request of the Com- 
rnittet. of the Board of Aldermen, the under- 
sigued, Committee of the New York Public 
School Society, submit ihe following proposi- 
tions as a basis of a compromise with their Ro- 
man Calhoiic fellow citizens, on the subject of 
the Public Schools, which propositions they are 
willing to support before the Trustees of the So- 
ciety, and which they btlieve will be sanctioned 
by that Boaru. 

The Trustees of the New York Public School 
Society will remove from the class-books in the 
school: , all matters which maybe pointed out as 
offensive to their Roman Catholic fellow citizens, 
should anything objectionable yet remain in 

them." 

* * * ***** 

" Every effort will be made by the Trustees of 
the Public School Society, to prevent any occur- 
rences in the schools which might be calculated 
to wound the feelings of Roman Catholic children 
or to impair their confidence in, or diminish their 
respect for the religion of their parents. Anx- 
ious to keep open every avenue to such an ar- 
rangement as will lead to a general attendance 
of the Roman Catholic children at the Public 
Schools, and fully aware that some things may 
have escaped their observation which might be 
modified without violation of the conscientious 
rights of others, the undersigned wish it to be dis- 
tinctly understood, that in offering the foregoing 
propositious, as the basis of an arrangement.it is 
not intended to exclude other propositions which 
the Roman Catholics may make, provided they 
do not interfere with the principles by which the 
Trustees feel themselves bound." * * * * 

All this was not satisfactory. There had been 
all this expurgation of books, and aftei a fashion 
which ought to have satisfied the most relentless 
censor of the Press, and the most bigoted devo- 
tee of the Pvomish Church. Books had been 
banished from the Libraries, and black lines 
drawn around objectionable passages in school 
books, after the fashion of the expunging resolu- 
tions in the United States Senate. Pages were 
pasted together and stars inserted, and history 
made a blank of, and a lie, in order to satisfy 
the complaints and bring the Irish children 
within the 1 ublic Schools. Even a passage from 
one of the brilliant speeches of Lord Chatham 
was blotted out because it alluded to Papal ty- 
ranny, as in this country and England freemen 
are accustomed every day to speak of the des- 
potism, wickedness or imbecility of their public 
servants. But all this was struck out in a spirit 
of compromise, and in the hope of persuading 
the Irish Catholics to seed their children to the 
Public Schools, as most of them would have done 
but for the tyranny of their Priests. 

And what was the ground of complaint 1 It 
was that the Bible was read in our Schools, — 



that children of all denominations were taught 
under the same roof, — that American and For- 
eign born boys and girls, and boys and girls of 
American and Foreign born parents were placed 
on an equality, taught by the same teachers, in- 
structed from the same books, supported from 
the same School Fuud. What was good enough 
for a poor American boy was not good enough 
for an Iiish child. He must have a School of 
his own, or as Governor Seward in his message 
6ays, " Teachers speaking the same language 
with themselves, and professing the same faith !" 
What would such a School be but a Romish 
School, a^Sectarian School, an Irish or a German 
Catholic School, and that supported by Ameri- 
can Protestants. No, Sir. The law of perfect 
equality, forbidding sectarianism, and which 
knew no sects, no creeds beyond the plain letter 
of the Bible, was not satisfactory to Bishop 
Hughes Children were taught their command- 
ments : "Thou shalt not lie," " Thou shalt not 
Bteal," " Thou shalt not bear false witness," &c, 
and this, in 1840-'41, was called sectarianism. 
The Bible was offensive iu itself, and the wish 
was to bauish it from the presence of children, 
as it is now banished even from Catnolic Sabbath 
echools.under the plea that the teachings of the Bi- 
ble cannot be comprehended. Abstruse science 
,ind frivolous fiction could be comprehended, but 
not the simplest truths of love, repentance, for- 
giveness and faith. 

Rather than have no Bible in our Schools, I 
would see the Douay Catholic Bible there in the 
hands of judicious teachers, even with all the 
marginal notes concerning feasts, fasts, penance, 
transubstantiation, &c. In the hands of true 
Christian Teachers, obliged to decide between 
no Bible and the detested Rhemish Testament, 
which I am glad to see disowned by Arch Bish- 
op Hughes, I would accept the latter, and seek 
to remember the good of the text and forget the 
superstitious aud brutalities of the comments. 
All that Protestants have ever asked for is the 
reading of the Bible in our schools without note 
or comment, and the inculcation of such general 
religious truths of love to God and man, obedi- 
ence to duty, respect for the truth and integrity 
as are accepted by members of every denomina- 
tion of Christians and even by nearly all practi- 
cal unbelievers in religious truth. 

I repeat, Sir, it was for defending this great 
idea of a free and equal Education for all and 
for tree speech and a manful discharge of duty 
to the Free Schools of the City of New York 
that Hiram Ketchum was personally and public- 
ly wronged by Governor Seward here in the 
Senate of New York. He had been largely in- 
strumental in saviDg the Schools in the city. He 
had resisted the innovations attempted here 
and sanctioned by high Executive authority. He 
had defeated the Bishop of New York who had 
threatened -to overthrow the Whig party unless 
one of its most distinguished members was pun- 
ished. The sacrifice was demanded from Gover- 
nor Seward and it was made, and without one 
word of apology or explanation to the man se- 
lected as a victim to priestly vengeance. 

It was then Bishop Hughes used both the al- 
tar and the forum to conduct the strife against 



11 



the Free School System of New York. He be- 
came a Politician and night after night harangu- 
ed the Irish Catholics against Protestants, 
and all men who were advocates of our Public 
Schools. He wooed his People with the zeal of 
a Loyola and threatened them as a Pontiff. 

Let me recall some of the occurrences which 
transpired at Carroll Hall and throughout the 
city in 1811. We were on the eve of an import- 
ant election. The Roman Catholics had their 
anti-School candidates, and from an extra of the 
Freeman's Journal, dated November 1, 1841, I 
read the following specimen of Bishop Hughes' 
speech and of the audience whom he addressed : 

EXTRACT FROM BISHOP HUGHES. 

" I will now require the Secretary to read the 
names placed on the ticket, of that ticket I have 
approved. It presents the names of the only 
friends we could find already befo-e the public, 
aDd those whom not bein^ so prominently befoie 
i the public, we have found to ourselves. 

The Secretary then read the following list: — 

Senators. 
Thomas O'Conor, I G Gottsberger, 

Assembly. 

I Tigbe Davey, David R F Jones, 

(Daniel C Peutz, Solomon Townsend, 

JGeoige Weir, John L O'Sullivan, 

Paul Grout, Auguste Davezac, 

Conrad Swackhammer, William McMurray, 
William B Maclay, Michael Walsh, 

Timothy Daly. 

Each name was received with the most deaf- 
ening and uproarious applause, and their teirific 
cheers were giveu at the close on the subsidence 
of which the Bi>kop proceeded : 
"You have now, gentlemen, heard the names of 
men who are willing to risK themselves in sup- 
port of your cause. Put these names out of 
view, and you can not, in the lists of our politi- 
cal candidates find that of one public man, who 
is not understood "to be pledged against us. 
What then is your course! 

" You now, for the first time, find yourselves 
in the position to vote at least for yourselves. — 
You have often voted for others, and they did 
ont vote for you, but now you are determined to 
uphold with your own votes, your own rights'; 
(Thunders of applause which lasted several min- 
utes,) will you then stand by the rights of your 
offspring, who have for so long a period, and 
from generation to generation, suffered under 
the operation of this injurious system 1 (Re- 
newed cheering) Will you adhere to the nomi- 
nation made! (Loud cries of "we will" "we 
will" and vociferous applause.) Will you be 
united ! (Tremendous cheering — the whole im- 
jmenso assembly rising en masse, waving of hats, 
[handkerchiefs, and every possible demonstration 
jof applause) Will you let all men see that you 
are worthy sons of the nation to which you be- 
long ! (Cries of "never fear — we will!" "we 
will till death !" and terrific cheering.) Will 
you prove yourselves worthy of friends ! (Tre- 
mendous ohuering) — will none of you flinch! — 
(The scene that followed this emphatic query 
' ts indiscribable, and exceed all the enthusiastic, 



and almost frenzied displays of passionate feel- 
ing, we have sometimes witnessed at Irish meet- 
ings. The cheering, the shouting, the stamping 
of feet the waveiDg of hats and handkerchiefs, 
beyond all powers of description.") 

* * * "You will have nothing to do 
with men who go to the Senate and Assem- 
bly, pledged to act against you. (Loud cries of 
"no, no. no," "that we won't," and great cheer- 
ing.) They may find votes enough to send them. 
(A voice, "no they sha'nt !" let them go.1 But 
they will, in that case be obliged to confess that 
they were sent by your enemies. Let them do 
the work of their masters. (Laughter and 
cheers.) 

Now, Sir, I a?k if such an exhibition was be- 
coming the ofrhjij of Bishop, or even the Church 
of Rome. And it was to exclude the Bible from 
cur schools, or to secure the School monies in 
order to establish Schools where the Bible would 
be excluded, that the Tigbe Daveys, the Paul 
Grouts, the Timothy Daleys, &c, were to be sent 
to the Legislature. 

The blind by the delicate touch of their fin- 
gers spread ove: the raised letters which some 
good angel has directed the genius of man to 
prepare for their special service, are enabled to 
read, and rejoice to read the promises of God 
from His own Book. There is more true melody 
in such an inspired sensation of touch than iu 
the music of a thousand ^Eoliau harps, for it is 
the harmony that reveals the ways of God to 
man. The deaf and dumb quick as motion and 
thought can trace and conceive an idea, see, 
comprehend and utter all the truths recorded 
Epon the sacred page. They know and feel 
what the psalmist meant when he said. "There 
is no speech, uov language where their voice is 
not heard." 

I must recall here as most worthy of remem- 
bi "iuca an occurrence in our State Institution for 
educating the deaf and dumb, and one which 
every man ought to cherish and sustain as 
the apple of his eye. It was an event growi:);< 
out of an unpremedidated examination of a child, 
as to the Creator, the Saviour, and that mysteri- 
our providence which gives to one the blessings 
of voice, and speech, and sight, and to another 
the absence of all these gifts. Not in all the 
books of the deepest philosophy, not even upou 
the pages of inspiration can we find a brighter 
example of christian power and religious resig- 
nation. I read from the address at the laying of 
the corner stone of the new edifice at Fanwood, 
near Fort Washington. 

"Who made the world!" was the question 
once propounded to a little boy in the Institution. 
Without an instant's delay, the chalk had rapid- 
ly traced the answer : 

"In the begining God created the Heavens and 
the Earth." 

" Why did Jesus come into the World!" was 
the next question proposed. With a smile of grati- 
fication, the little fellow wrote in reply: 

•'This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all 
acceptation, thai ^Christ Jesus came into tho 
world to save sinners," The astounded visitor, 
desirous of testing the religious nature of the pu- 
pil to the utmost, ventured to ask, 



12 



"Why were you born deaf and dumb, wher. I 
can both hear and speak V With the sweetest 
and most touching txpression of meek resignation 
on the face of the boy, the rapid chalk replied: 

"Even so, Father, for so it seemethgood in thy 
sight." 

Need I say more to show that the Bible ought 
to be read in all our Schools, or give additional 
reasons why every child, Protestant and Roman 
Catholic, American and Irish, German and Swede, 
should be instructed from its pages. I shall re- 
joice when all, of every clime, no matter where 
born, or whence they came, or what their condi- 
tion, shall be educated free and by the aid of the 
State. 

Mr. Dickinson. — Little nigger children too 7 ? 

Mr. Brooks. — Yes, negro children too. I 
t' ank the Senator lor this new born demonstra- 
tion of his, in regard to negroes, a class of people 
who are used, and traded in as merchandize, by 
half the politicians of the State. Oh, the 
disiateresteness of these lovers of negro freedom 
at the South ! Why do they not let their 
charity begin at home! Why do they not begin 
with our own State Constitution, which imposes 
peculiar hardships upon the free negroes of the 
State, and among them a property qualification 
of $250, before they can enjoy the right of fran- 
chise 1 What a commentary is this great tact 
upon your zeal for the rights and freedom of the 
Southern negro! 

Mr. Dickinson. — Is the Senator aware that the 
Hon. Wm. II Seward was opposed to the pro- 
petty qualification clause 1 ? And will the Sena- 
tor vote for expunging that clause! 

Mr. Brooks. — I may or may not. It will be 
time enough to answer that question when we 
are required to act on the subject. I do not 
think Wm. H. Seward a Judas Iscariot. I be- 
lieve there are a great many men in this country 
worse than Mr. Seward. 1 am not personally op- 
posed to that gentlemen. It is his principles, his 
radicalism, his sectionalism, his appeals to low 
passions, his spirit of demagogueism, that 
awakens my opposition. I do not like his past 
war against our Protestant School system, — and 
he boasts that he has not changed, — nor his zeal 
for foreign Schools with Irish or German 
teachers, and of a Sectarian faith. 

Nor do I like his course in regard to foreign- 
ers generally, especially since so many foreign- 
ers have come into this country, with a disposi- 
tion to become its masters, and to rule, rather 
in accordance with the red republican principles 
of Europe, than according to our ideas of a sov- 
ereignty founded upon the intelligence of the 
people. I see a world-wide difference between 
the Lafayettes, the De Kalbs and the Kosciuskos 
of the American Revolution, and the swarms of 
men who now people our shores from the old 
world. Then they came with religion, with ed- 
ucation, with capital, with a knowledge of the 
country, with a desire to be Americans at heart 
and in principle. If poor, they did not seek to 
pauperise the country. If criminals, they were 
punished for their crimes. It was not the fash- 
ion then to send here criminals from European 
prison-houses, nor paupers from European pest- 
houses. Five and ten thousand of the best cit- 



izens of the old world come annually among us. 
Now two hundred, three hundred, and three 
hundred and fifty thousand come every year. — 
The 120,000 immigrants between 1790 and 1800 
swelledto 1,542,850 between 1840 and 1850 Every 
wind and every tide brings them among us, and 
while we bid God speed and a warm welcome to 
all who are of us and among us in heart, to all 
who are poor, industrious and honest, to all who 
are exiled by oppressors for their love of liberty 
and truth, we do not welcome the debased in 
character, the degraded in habits of thought or 
life, nor those who are of the bloody revolution- 
ary stamp, or in any way red republican in their 
principles. Albert Gallatin and Alexander Ham- 
ilton, were born abroad, but they were no such 
men as these. I honor the lives of such civili- 
ans, whose services adorn so many pages of our 
civil history. I honor, also, the memory of the 
brave men whose hands and hearts were devo- 
ted to our service in the field in the war of In- 
dependence. How different from the Soules, the 
Belmonts, and De Leons, who now represent 
this Government in Europe. It is hardly possi- 
ble that men born and educated abroad, can 
represent the Government as well as those born 
and educated at home. I should respect tbem 
less, if they had no love for their father land. — 
They would be more or less than men, to be 
thus indifferent to their birth places. Even 
Gallatin was so timorous of our success in arms, 
as to advise against the employment of the very 
navy which contributed so much to our renown 
in war, and nothing but the repeated and earnest 
entreaties of Bainbridge and Stewart could per- 
buade President Madison to pass unheeded the 
advice of the then Secretary of the Treasury. — 
Washington never spoke more like the Father 
of his Country, than when he declared that the 
civil and military arm, should both be in the 
hands of Americans. 

Is there any hardship in such a rule ! I mean 
in its general principles, forall rules, for special 
reasons, may have their exceptions. I do not 
ask that foreign born citizens shall be denied 
the American franchise. But let me ask what 
illiberality there would be in saying to the immi- 
grant — " You are welcome to our shores, you 
shall have protection in person and property, 
you shall be our equals in everything but the 
franchise, your children shall have this privilege 
and enjoy all the rights and honor given to the 
children of native born citizens tor all genera- 
tions from the foundation of the Government." 
Or if we were to declare that a twenty-one year 
residence in the country would be necessary to 
the enjoyment of the privileges given to Ameri- 
cans at that age, who can say that such a restric- 
tion would be uniust 1 

The American feeling which pervades the 
country to-day has been forced upon us by the 
ignorance, impudence and audacity of many of 
the multitudes who have come among us. In 
my own city as elsewhere, many of these new 
comers are making open war upon Institutions 
as old as the country. They do noj like our 
Sabbaths as days for religious observances, they 
do not like the order, sobriety and restrictions 
which prevail even in this very free country. In 



13 



one of these " Platforms," and the same is in 
circulation North and South, East and West, they 
say : I deem it important to give them their 
Reform Record in full. 

Reform in the laws op the General Govern- 
ment, AS WELL AS IN THOSE OF THE STATES. 

" We demand : I. Universal suffrage. 2. The 
election of all officers by the people. 3. The 
abolition of the Presidency: 4. The abolition of 
Senates, so that the Legislatures shall consist of 
ODly one branch. 5. The right of the people to 
call their Representatives (cashier them) at their 
. pleasure. 6. The right of the people to change 
' the Constitution when they like. 7. All lawsuits 
to be conducted without expense. 8. A department 
of ihe Government to be set up for the purpose of 
protecting immigration. 9. A reduced term for 
acquiring citizenship." 

Reform in the foreign relations of the Gov- 
ernments. 

r "1. Abolition of all neutrality. 2. Intervention 
in favor of every people struggling for liberty." 

Reform in what relates to religion. 
"1. A more perfect develcpement of the prin- 
ciple of personal freedom and liberty of con- 
science ; consequently an Abolition of laws for 
the observance of the Sabbath ; b. Abolition of 
prayers in Congress; c. Abolition of oath upon 
the Bible ; d. Repeal of all laws enacting a re- 
ligious test before taking an office. 2. Taxation 
of church property. 3. A prohibition of incor- 
porations of all church property in the name of 
ecclesiastics." 

Reform in the social Condition. 

"1. Abolition of land monopoly. 2. Ad valo- 
rem in taxation of property. 3. Amelioration of 
the condition of the working class— a. By less- 
ening the time of work to eight hours for grown 
persons, and to five hours for children ; b. By in- 
corporation of mechanics' associations and pro- 
tective societies ; c. By granting a preference to 
mechanics before all other creditors ; d. By es- 
tablishing an asylum for snperanuated mechanics 
without means at the public expense. 4. Edu- 
cation of poor children by the State. 5. Taking 
possession of the railroads by the State. 6. The 
promotion of education — a. By the introduction 
of free schools, with the power of enforcing the 
parents to send their children to school, and pro- 
hibition of all clerical influence ; b. By instruct- 
ing in the German language ; c. — By establish- 
ing a German University. 7. The supporting of 
the slave emancipation exertions of Cassius M. 
Clay by Congressional laws. 8. Abolition of 
the Christian system of punishment, and intro- 
duction of the humane amelioration system. 9. 
Abolition of capital punishment." 

To correct some of the abuses incident to all 
these innovations I have proposed here 

To sustain our Common Schools in their purity. 

That the Bible shall be read in our Schools. 

That the Naturalization Laws shall De admin- 
istered by our Judges and without fraud. 

That we shall maintain a pure franchise. 

That our foreign Ambasadors shall be Ameri- 
can. 



And that Americans shall rule America. 

These are subjects which enlist our sympathy 
and which have my entire heart. I am not in- 
different to other evils. If it was in my power 
I would meliorate the condition of the wholo 
human family, but charity begins at home, and 
mine begins in the United States. If I were an 
Irishmau I would defend an Irish Nationality, 
and if I were an Italian, I would pray for the in- 
dependence of Italy. As a Huugarian, Hungary 
should have my whole heart, and so, too, if 
Switzerland, Poland or Germany were my native 
land. I wish well to them all, and regard them 
all in that spirit of broad philanthropy which 
declares that God has made of one blood all the 
nations of men who dwell upon the face of the 
earth. Senators on the other side have sought 
for no good purpose, and in no true love for 
Slaves, to identify some of us here with a de- 
fence of Slavery because we could not vote for 
Wm. H. Seward. I have only to say for myself 
in conclusion that I have no attachments to any 
kind of servitude mental, physical, or partisan. 
More than thirty years ago, when a small boy, 
upon a tomb stone in the grave yard of Old 
Concord, Massachusetts, I learned my first lesson 
in the cause of true freedom, and I have not 
forgotten it from that time to the present. 

"Man wills us slaves, 
God wills us free. 
I will as Godwills, 
God's will be done." 



Rejoinder to Mr. Dickinson. 

In Senate, February 13. 
Mr. President: — I do not propose to repeat 
what I have said upon the General Politics of 
the State, or to enlarge upon the reasons which 
prompted me to vote against Wm. H. Seward. I 
do mean, however, to clinch fas 1 as a well driven 
nail, the reasons and facts before given for my 
vote. To Recapitulate then let me say that 
Mr. Seward was not only untrue at heart to Mr. 
Clay, but that he was largely responsible for his 
defeat in 1844. He went over the State during 
the canvass with Mr. Clay upon his lips, and 
something else his heart. He denounced slavery 
and slaveholders with unsparing severity. He 
pictured the slaveholder in all the deformities of 
a Tyrant and an oppressor, and a Plantation life as 
the concentration of all that was corrupt and 
horrid. Throngs of excited people were told 
that Mr. Clay was the owner of ninety slaves, 
that he lived upon a large plantation, and then, 
with their passions aroused against slavery and 
slaveholders, and the dark picture drawn against 
s'avery they were asked to vote for Mr. Clay as 
the Whig nominee for the Presidency. This 
support was ungenerous and unkind, and like 
that of the vuliure to the lamb. It made thou- 
sands of votes for Mr. Birney and took thou- 
sands from Mr. Clay. Such support was of a 
piece with the invitation to Mr. Clay to visit 
New York as a guest. He came and those who 
had invited him turned their backs upon him af- 
ter he had entered the territory as he supposed 
of friends. Mr. Clay was told at Geneva at the 
house of Gideon Lee, and by Solomon Van Ren- 
sellaer, a name and memory always to be hon- 



14 



ored, that the professions of friendship towards 
him by Mr. Seward were hollow, and that Mr. 
Seward would not see him. 

I must now recall, said Mr. B., a new incident 
or a forgotten incident in the History of the 
Compromise Measures, as they have been allud- 
ed to to-day in defence of Governor Seward's 
course in 1850. I wish here in reply and de- 
fence to make the letter of Senator Rusk, of 
Texas, a part of the History of the country in 
order to show the double part which was played 
upon the Ten Million Texas Bill at Washington 
in 1850. National Whigs have been deuonuced 
all over the Stale for that measure. Let us see 
where Mr. Seward stood upon it, or upon a mea- 
sure like it. 

LETTER FROM MR. RUSK. 

Washington. Sept. 11, 1850. 

Dear sir:— I have received your note of thin data making 
enquiry in relation to certain propositions made to me by 
Mr. Seward, of New York. Some months s.nce, whiie the 
Bill reported by the (Jonimittee of thirteen, usu lly called 
tho Omnibus Bill, w»« before the Senate, Mr. iseward called 
upon ma and said be thought Texas was in tad company — 
tnat he was disposed to treat her kindly — that he did not 
believe she had a gool title to New Mexico, but, he be ieved 
theUuitcd States wcie bound to pay her debt— that he 
would vote to do so, at any time, if Texas would relinquish 
her claim to New Mexico— that all his triends would do so, 
and that it I would draw hira up a Bill to that effect, he 
would have it introduced into the House of Representatives 
and had i.o doubt it would pass. He said he was a better 
friend to Texas than many of those who were supporting the 
Omnibus Bin ano, that, it would be better for Texas 10 dis- 
connect herself from the liiil before the Senate, 1! listen d 
to all this but did not draw up any Bill at tue time, nor fop 
severa days afterward. He asked me, 1 think, four or five 
times, whethei I had drawn up the Bill, to which I au- 
swered that I had not. lie then left fir home and was gone 
several days. When he retui ncd, he again sskedme wheth- 
er 1 had yetdrawn upthat Bill, I repi' d that 1 had not, 
wh-n he again ure-arae to do so .". then learned from 
him, that he had spoken to another member of the Senate 
upon tue subject. I concluded to draw up a Bill and did so, 
fixing the liue at 34 degrees of North latitude and inserting 
twvlve millions of doll us, as the compensation. To this he 
object d, but propo edaBMto pay t.e debt of Texas, pro- 
vided it did not • xceed i«n millions. Texas relinquishing 
h~r claims to New Mexico proper, as she stood previously, 
under the organization of Mexico. He said this was a 
ground upon which h«< and hs friei ds could sustain them- 
selves, and that, il I would draw such a Bill, he would have 
it introduced into tue House of Representatives. I there- 
upon caused a Bill to be drawn by one of the clerks of the 
Senate, which I handed to him. Sometime af'erwatd, the 
Omnibus Bill was de eated. Mr. Pearce's Bill was then in- 
troduced and, ou its passage, Mr. Seward voted against it. 
Sometime alterwards, Mr. S, approached me and said he had 
no objection to th; ten millions but did n»t 11- e the word 
'"cede," iutheBih. Heremarked that he had voted aga DSt 
it. I told him I i ad or-served the fact and was astonished 
at it, alter what he had said tome. I said that tbe iiJl 
conceded mo e territory to New Mexico than her former 
limits, to which he answered, that tno word '"cede" gave 
rise to his on"y objection to the measure and that he saw 
there were enough vote* withont his, <kc. 

toon after the Bill went to the House, I learned from a 
highly respectab e source, that Mr. S. was exerting himself 
to defeat it, and^immediaiely called upon him and remind- 
ed him ot his previous coi ver-at on with me on the sutject. 
I theu told him that atter what he bad said id the Senate, 
I had no disposition to assail a man who had declared "he 
would not detenu himself," tut when !:• hid sought ma 
and made dec'aiatiii.s which were cf culated to deceive 
and mislead me, iu a matter of vital i.nrortauce to Texas 
and the whole country, he assumed a different position, of 
which bo should not avail hiujse f with ■ puuity, and that 
1 desired then, to know whether he had t -e.i exeitmg liim- 
se.f to defeat the Bui. lie replied that he had heard the 
charge — that it was untrue — thatitwas male byMr.Fill- 
more and his friends, to get voies for the BUI — that, so tar 
Jiom attempting todefi-at toe bill, he had advised his friends 
who could sustain themselves at home, in i-uch a course, to 
vote for the gilt — that there was no danger of its not pas 
King — that he was in bad health and wa.-> going heme, . ot 
txpeetitig to rie back nutil after the final vote upon the Bi I, 
Od the following day he left the city and was absent du- 
ring several days, but I do not remember how long. 

This is. iu substance, what passed beiween us. I enclose 
you a copy of the Bill which 1 handed tuhio 1 . 

1 must, injustice to myself, s«y. tha , if Mr. Seward did, 
as is stated, . xert hisinlluence to defeat '.he Bill, he did not 
deceive me for I placed no reliance up >u hi* statem«nn 
lrom the begiuiing, and did not, in the s.lghtest degie«, 
alter cay course, iu consequence of what he said to me 

Yours truly. ISO. J. BUBS. 



So much for Mr. Seward's consistency uport- 
the compromise measures. 

The anti-Taylor meeting held in' Albany we 
will consider next. The Senator from the 26th, 
(Mr. Dickinson,) insists that Mr. Fillmore was 
privy to it, and a counsellor of it. I read from 
the Albany Journal evidence to the contrary, but 
the charge is reiterated, and to vindicate the 
memory of an old and distinguished friend not 
here to defend himself, and to vindicate the 
truth of history which has here been assailed, I 
feel called ujion to do that which I would have 
gladly avoided if I could, and to bring Mr. Fill- 
more himself to answer the unjust imputation 
upon his honorable associations with General 
Taylor. Here is his let'er in answer to one from 
me, written after the imputation had been made 
and repeated. 

mr. fillmore's letted: 

Buffalo, N. Y.. Saturday, Feb. 10, 1855. 
Mt Dbar Sir— I have yours of the 9th iust., iu which yon 
inquire '"woetber 1 was privy to and adviser! any resolutions 
drawn by Mr Weed or o'hers, to be acted upon at the Al- 
bany meeting in August, 1848, (26th,) to defeat Oeueral Tay- 
lor;" to which I beg leave to reply, that I neither drew, nor 
advised the drawing, of any such resolutions: that on enter- 
ing Mr. Weed's printing office just at dusk, I found him en- 
gaged in drawing such resolutions for the meeting which 
had then been called. He read them to me, which was the 
first knowledge i hf>d of them, and I protested against them 
and-themeeting, and on my remonstrence, as I understood. 
Mr. We> d consented not to present them, but to have the 
meeting po tpoued. The«e are thefac's but in my retire- 
ment I would choose to avoid all notoriety, and especially 
such as arises from political controversy; nevertheless, if it 
be essential to the truth of history that y^u should nia-e 
known the contents of this letter, you are at libertvto do 
so. lam truly yours. MILLARD FILBM"HE. 

I come now to Mr Seward s official injustice to 
Hiram Ketchum, also denied by the Senator 
from the 26lh That Senator asserted that Mr. 
Ketchum's nomination was "several weeks in the 
Senate Chamber, before it was withdrawn." The 
Senator is in error. Mr. Ketcbnm's nomination 
was sen*, in not before the 11th of the month, 
and the Senate adjourned on the 26th. It was 
alledged that the nomination was withdrawn, 
also at the instance of Mr. Tallmadge of N. Y., 
Erastus Root and Mr. Dickinson. Mr. Root, is 
dead, and there is no voice from the j*rave to 
confirm or deny the allegation in regard to his 
acts. Mr. Tallmadge, however, denies the act, 
and writes to me that he was neither a Senator 
nor in Albany at the time in question. The 
Senator himself, here to defend Govornor Seward, 
is the witness left, and I am convinced that even 
he errs in regard to the fact he states. Let me 
read the letter from Mr. Tallmadge. 

February 10, 18.15- 

Messrs. Editors: — I perceive by the :eport of proceed- 
ings iu the Senate of New York, in your paper o) last even- 
ing, Mr. Die iusun is reported to hnv-- said that Governor 
Seward withdrew the nomination of Hiram Ketchum from 
the Senate, for the office of Judge of tue euuieme Court, to 
which he had been nominated, in.-m representations made 
to hnn, by Governor Root, Mr. Ijicki^son and myself. 

My liieni. Mr. Dickinson, must be in error in re ard M 
myself, as the nomination was made to the Senate in April 
1811. and my term of office as atnator expired on the 1st (if 
January. 10 d. 

At the timeof presenting the nomination of Mr. Ketchum 
I wis not a member of the Senate, and could not, therefore, 
have adviset the witndrawal of his name. 

I may be pei mil ted to add that ;n arqnaintanco with Mr. 
Ketchum, in, both hispriva e and professional character, lor 
more than 3d yea' s, has ioepired in me the gratfst regard 
for his private worth, and th ' highest respct for his eleva- 
ted protessiooal position. Respectfully yeurs, 

f. a, tallmadge. 
[Mr. Brooks read a similar letter to himself.] 
And I have by me Mr. Ketchum's own letter 



15 



which injustice to his Dame and his wrongs as 
well as my own vote, I desire to read to the Sen- 
ate. 

Letter from Mr. Ketchum. 

No. 31 Wall Streee. Feb. 12, 1855. 
Dear 8ir— You have seen fit *o introduce in the debate 
$n tb<> Senate, the school question and ray nomination to 
the office of Circuit Judge.in May. 1S4I, and the withdrawal 
of that nomination by Governor Seward. Since these topics 
have beeu brought belore the Senate, I am desirous that 
the facts should truly appear. Senator D CKioson says my 
nomination was before the Senate For weeks. It was sent 
to the Senate May 11, 1841 — certainly not before that date, 
and the senate adjourned May 26. He says also. Ihat Gen. 
Root, Mr. 'i'allmauge and himself made a representation to 
the Governor triat my nomination would not be confirtntd, 
and that he withdrew it. It appears that Mr. Tallma ge 
was not at that time, a member of the Sena-e, and denies 
the transaction, i-o far as he was concerned, The other wit- 
T'ess, Gen Hoot, is dead. Ineverhtard of the facts stated 
by Mr. Dickinson, before he made the statement. The facts 
relating to the whole subject are briefly these: In the year 
1824, the Legislature gave to the Corporation of the City of 
>ew York, power to distribute the portion of th- School 
Fund assigned to and raised for that City, among such in- 
stitutions and schools, as it should by or iinauce desiccate. 
Unler this iaw the Common Council txclnded from a par- 
ticipation in this fund, all religious denominations, includ- 
ing, ot course, the Romau Catho,ic schools. In 1840, the 
Koman Catholic schools pet'tioned the Corporation for a 
participation in this lund In Uctober of that year they 
were heard before a lull Couoc ; l, through Bishop Hughes, 
at great length. Others were heard. I appeart-d on that 
occasion. The Corporation investigated the subject, with. 
ca>-e and patience, and many of its members visited the 
schools, and then rejected the petition, with, I think, en- 
tire unanimity. The Koman Catholics then applied to the 
Legislature; their petitions were referred to the Secretary 
of state, Hon, John C. Spencer. In 1841, he made an elab- 
orate report, suggesting a pian which allowed the formation 
of voluntary associatons for the establishment of schools. 
These associations when formed, would have been corpora- 
tions quite as close as the Public School Society. They 
wonld, moreover, have allowed Roman Cathol cs to form 
•SKociations'among themselves, establish sjhools lor their 
own children, appointing tbeirown clergy as teachers, and 
these clerg» would have Qiawn their salary from the School 
Fund, It is believed the plan was submitted to, and had 
the entire approval of Bishop Hughes- 
Alter this report was drawn, Gov. Seward came to the 
City of Mew Y rk and requested an interview with the 
Trusteesof the Public School Snci-ty. Ihe interview was 
held, the plan was urged by the Governor, the Trustees were 
not convinced, and they opposed it. On the 30th April, 1841, 
the'Trusteeg sent to the Legislature a remonstrance against 
this report, and prayed to be htard. This remonstrance 
was referred by the Senate to the Committee on Literature 
composed of Gen. Root, Mr Verplanck and Mr. Hunt-r — 
This Committee he'd a meet'ng to hear parties in the Capi- 
tol on the 8th of May, 1841 This meeting was attended by 
a number of Roman Catuclics from the City of New Kirk, 
repri-Sfnting the schools of this d nomination. They wera 
heart through two gentlemen of the bar — Wright 
Haivkes, Esq ,3and the late Mr. McKeon. I was heard on be 
hxlf of the Public School Society at some length. Ontbe 
11th of the same minth, Tuesday following, the Committee 
reported a bill. On the same day, I uudeistand my nomi- 
nation was sent to the Senate On the 22d of May on mo- 
tion of Mr Verplank, the bid was considered in Committea 
On the 25th of May, the Senate proceed-d to a further con- 
sideration of the report, and Senator Nich'.das moved that 
the further consideration be pos'poned to the first Tuesdav 
ol Jauuary next, ensuing. On this motion the Yeas and 
Nays were ta^en, there were eleven in the affirmative and 
two in the negative. The bill was. therefore, lost. On the 
published list of the Yeas and Nays, neither the name of 
of Senator Root nor Senator Hunter appeals. 

After this vote, d,s 1 was inforned. the Governor with- 
drew my nomination. j,On the 26th— the next day — tha 
ilouse ad|ourn>'d. 

Now, irom that day to this, I have been of opinion that 
Governor Seward— who was very anxious for the passage of 
this bill, and i xpressed to me on th« 8th ot May his full be- 
ne! that it would pass — withdrew my nomination because 
his favorite measure failed, and to show his entire sincerity 
to the tri.-nds of that measure, Bishop Hughes, and the Ro- 
man Catholics of the city vf New York. 

I was. theiefore.sicrificed upon the soil of raynative State, 
not thirty miles from ,mr birth-place, to please those ot 
another religion and not born in my country I know I shall 
be pardoned for saying that I did not contemplate this trans- 
action with complacency in this view of it, but Senator Dick- 
inson puts a new fac on the whole affair. According to hia 
statement, my withdrawal was from kindness and delicaey 
to n e. What a pitty that such kindness should have lain 
concealed from the publij f>r fourteen years. 

Yours, very respectfully and truly. 

HlRAM KETCHUM. 
Now sir. have I or have I not made out my 
own case? Cut it is said I have been inconsis- 



tent to my obligations to the Whig Party, be- 
cause I did not vote for Mr. Seward, and my 
last words to the Young Men's Whig General 
Committee of New York, are quoted against me, 
because I am not upon the record as the Senator 
would have me. 

I was for three years the Chairman of this 
Committee and one year at the head of its Ex- 
ecutive Committee, and only during those four 
years a member. In all that time the Senator 
cannot find one word or thought of mine or of 
the Committee sustaining Mr. Sewards course. 
It was a National Whig Committee. It knew no 
North, no South, no East, no West, and nothing 
but the country. It was conservative, tolerant, 
national, and I was proud to be its officer. I 
stand here to-day where I stood then, and 
through the Administration of General Taylor 
and Mr. Fillmore, and I defy the Senator, or 
those who are filling his quiver full of arrows 
against me, to point to even one inconsistency of 
mine. The friends of Mr. Seward did all in 
their power to oppose my elevation there,and my 
election to the place I hold, I felt the force of 
this hostility all the way from this Capital, and 
all because as a Whig and a citizen I chose to be 
no man's man, and would not sustain the cor- 
rupt and corrupting dynasty here in Albany. 

Nor will I ever be a sectional politician, or 
square my political allegiance by geographical 
metes and bounds. All this side of the Mason 
and Dixon line, and all this side of the Potomac 
are dear to me as a northern man, but there is 
something beyoDd, also, which I regard as a 
part of my country. I know no difference as a 
public man, attached to a national party faith, 
between a brother on the banks of the" Missis- 
sippi or the Savannah, and one on the shores of 
the Kennebec or Hudson. I would embrace 
them all as of "one country, one constitution, and 
one destiny." In the sentiment of a pure and 
patriotic affection I would hng them all to my 
bosom as of one national family. I would span 
the whole continent from ocean to ocean with 
the bow of promise, and girdle the continent 
with more than a belt of steel. I would be tol- 
erant and just to all men, regardless of what the 
North said against Slavery or the South said for 
Slavery. The Constitution of the country is the 
only legal arbiter between North and South, and 
whatever that demanded I would be as ready to 
give as to exact, and if I could not do this, I 
would disown my birthright. 

There are as good Whigs South as North, and 
there are men there M'hom I have named by 
scores who have stood by the Constitution, and 
its compromises, and by us, with all the Zealand 
friendship of those who love their country with 
a holy affection. Let us, Mr. President, cease to 
hate one another. Above all, do not let us use 
our public places and influence here in the Sen- 
ate of this graat Stale to arouse enmities against 
men living under the same constitution, the same 
flag, and destined, for good or evil, a to the 
same end. We can maintain our own ri hts and 
discharge our own duties to the North, without 
warring upon the constitutional rights of any 
other people. 



